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Category Archives: Paul Weller

I’m not sure which is worse: the mendacious Chump, the Clown Car of Corrupt Cronies (aka the current incarnation of the GOP), or the Grammy Awards. Since this is a music blog, I’ll skip the first two. And, for the same reason, I’ll just sideswipe the Grammy Awards and say that, for as long as I can remember, they’ve been simultaneously entertaining and meaningless. Which is why, at 10 o’clock last Sunday night, with an hour left in the ceremony, I felt no remorse in turning off the tube and turning in for the night.

And with that, here’s today’s Top 5: #ReleaseThisBlogPost.

1) Bob Dylan – “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” from Bringing It Back Home (1965).

In my Top 5 on Sunday, I mentioned about Weller that “there’s a whole host of covers to be had via the YouTube rabbit hole.” His willingness to share and pay tribute to his inspirations in concert and/or on vinyl is just one of the many cool things about him – and some of those recorded efforts, such as “Stoned out of My Mind” by the Jam, rate among my favorite sides of his.

Anyway, today at work, I began wondering if he’d covered John Lennon’s “Well, Well, Well” – but, if he ever did, it’s not on YouTube. There are tons of Fab-related tunes, however…

1) “Ticket to Ride” –

2) “All You Need Is Love” –

3) “Sexy Sadie” –

4) “Birthday” –

5) “Don’t Let Me Down” (with Stereophonics) –

6) “Come Together” –

And here are his spins on two JL classics…

7) “Instant Karma” –

8) “Love” –

And, just because, here are his takes on two Neil Young songs…

9) “Birds” –

10) “Out on the Weekend” –

And one bonus: Circling back to Sunday’s Top 5, which featured Bob Dylan’s cover of this classic Dion single, here’s Weller’s take…

The past week has found me excavating the Ruins of First Aid Kit. In addition to their U.S. tour, which just kicked off, they’ve been out in force promoting the release, appearing on CBS This Morning and The Ellen DeGeneres Show, among other TV venues, and stopping by the always cool KCRW “Morning Becomes Eclectic” radio show in L.A. on January 23rd. The latter, which I watched this morning, is an informative and fun session that finds the Sisters Söderberg performing an eight-song set and fielding some good questions –

If you don’t have 45 minutes to spare, however, fast forward to the 32-minute mark and enjoy their rollicking take of Heart’s classic “Crazy on You”…or watch this clip, from the next night in Oakland:

Hopefully they keep it in the set.

Of course, one cool cover leads to another…in this case, a taste of a much-anticipated (by me) LP: Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia Newton-John. I’m sure some folks will scratch their heads over the project, which is slated for release on April 13th, but I’m thrilled that JH is letting her geek flag fly. (Of note, the video is shot in Bensonhurst, the Brooklyn neighborhood home to Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever.)

Here’s an oddity that I stumbled over the other night: Bob Dylan with Clydie King, from 1980, covering the Dick Holler-penned Dion hit, “Abraham, Martin & John.”

Speaking of Dylan, here’s Paul Weller’s take on “All Along the Watchtower” (from 2004):

With Weller, there’s a whole host of covers to be had via the YouTube rabbit hole. Here’s one of my favorites: performing CSNY’s classic “Ohio” at Glastonbury 1994. (For what it’s worth, he also released a live version of it on the 1993 The Weaver EP.)

And two bonuses…

One of my favorite covers of all time is the Jam’s take on the Chi-Lites’ “Stoned Out of My Mind.” I featured it recently, however, so here’s another take on the classic tune…by Joss Stone (from 2012). It’s great.

And since every time I listen to Joss, I wind up listening to her a lot – here’s her take on the Impressions’ 1965 hit “People Get Ready” at the Melbourne Festival in 2011: